Partners In Time
by Doctor-River
Summary: So far this is my earliest story in the Doctor and River's timelines and it is the start of their complex love for each other. There is a fun adventure followed by some physical expression of their love... then forgotten love and blossoming of 'new' love


_This story is set before any of my others and it is the key point which was mentioned in 'Some Crysallian Evening' where the Doctor reads River's diary and the timelines get fixed. It is also the spark of their relationship as River chooses the adventure destination, for once._

The TARDIS zoomed across the universe at a lightning speed with an excited Doctor and River inside at the controls. They weren't wearing their usual adventure clothes, but in all black instead. The Doctor in black trousers with a navy shirt and black faux leather jacket with deep blue shoes and River wearing skin tight black trousers with knee- length black boots and a white low- cut vest with a black faux leather jacket- where were they going dressed as they were?

"Are you excited about this?" River smiled from across the control panel.

"Definitely..." The Doctor laughed. The TARDIS landed on a jungle planet called Tropicalipzone where the excitement was about to begin: the annual Intergalactic Starsurfing Contest and both River and the Doctor are competing this year.

"You are so going down, I've competed AND won 5 years in a row, and we do this all the time in the 51st century." River smirked, knowing that the Doctor hasn't had the practise she has. He smiled at her with an 'oh really?' look on his face. Tropicalipzone was the start of the race and the rings of the water planet Aquilassi was the finish. The race was through the stars, past the planets in the supernovas around the asteroids and over the black holes. It was an intense race on a Space issue hover-board that was equipped with a front barricade that had rope attached as a balance, the board is an oval type of surfboard that hovered.

The both stepped out of the TARDIS and were surrounded by many tropical plants with a mud track leading to a series of tents for storage when the race started. Starboards were floating at the starting line facing towards the take off point into space. River ran over to choose a board and jumped onto it. She looked elegant, standing tall and she rode it in a circle on the spot the giggled at the Doctor. "Ready, Sweetie?"

"Allons-y!" He smiled and jumped onto the board next to River with a wobble, not as elegant. She rolled her eyes- he was making it look far more difficult than it actually was. The race was going to start soon, and everyone else took their positions at the starting line. "Good day everyone, and what a beautiful day it is! It's the start of this year's Intergalactic Starsurfing Contest, and everyone's eager to get going. Oh, who's that at board number eight, well its five time consecutive champion River Song returning for yet another year, maybe taking the title again?" The announcer man said into the microphone. The camera zoomed across all of the competitors and had a close- up of River who smiled and winked at it. A hovering set of traffic lights floated over to the centre of the starting line and began flashing: red, amber, yellow, green and the race was underway. "And they're off! It looks like River is still a very worthy competitor with an early lead followed by number nine- the Doctor! Closely behind is number 20 and number 14." he yelled as the typical excited presenter. The first of the hoverboards were now in space and River was leading. A camera was following overhead trying to squeeze as many racers on the monitor as possible. River had a choice of riding over the rings of an unknown planet or riding the Nuero Supernova which was a swirling spiral of purple space dust which can act as a barrel for the race. She chose the Supernova and she swirled in it around in loops and the purple dust lit her up. The Doctor chose riding over the rings and across the dust layer of the planet; it was a smooth flow that added a bit of speed though it was on the outside of the course. He was gliding on the tail of the board- like a tail slide on a skateboard flinging a trail of dust behind him.

Next, there was a stretch of space that was filled with nothing but stars; this was where racers had a good chance of overtaking each other or cutting off others by weaving in front of them. River was still in the lead and the Doctor wanted to catch her up but trying to prevent anyone else overtaking him. There was a black hole up ahead- it had its gravitational pull compressed for the race so the racers could flow through it to the next part of the course instead of getting sucked inside. A second camera floated on the other side of the black hole zoomed in to see who comes out first.

It was close between four racers as they neared the planetary area with various planets over the course. On these planets there were repair stations if a hover board had been damaged. River and the Doctor didn't need to stop so they continued onwards with the other racers closely behind. The audience was cheering on their favourites and watching the big screen monitors seeing where the racers are. A cloaked figure was watching silently from the finish line, they weren't supporting anyone, just watching, almost as if waiting...

The racers were almost half way through the course now and River was still in the lead, she rode a Quantum Time Rift which sped her up and she is now far in front. The Doctor just managed to maintain second position. They were all nearing an asteroid field after another stretch of clear space. The path grew wider in the asteroid field so racers had a chance of taking their own route through them and possibly changing their position. The Doctor nervously gripped tightly on the rope as he weaved in and out of the asteroids, looking for River. There was no sight of her, or anyone apart from a daring racer- number 20 trying to climb to second place but crashed into a fast moving asteroid. "Glad that wasn't me..." the Doctor thought exiting the asteroid field. He was nearing the end of the race when he noticed River fly back into first place after repairing her board to enhance speed even more and to buff out some dents she received by some small asteroids. The last part of the course was the meteor track...

This part of the track was engulfed by flaming meteors darting across from all directions, the most difficult part of the course that could completely change the result. River overtook the Doctor by far and she was dodging the meteors with elegance and ease moving from side to side and upside down spins. He was following her path hoping he wouldn't get hit. A meteor zoomed in front of the Doctor and was heading towards River. "River, watch out!" the Doctor called. River looked behind and noticed the meteor right behind her so she powerslided to the right and it zoomed past, just missing her as she felt the heat as it passed. She looked back for a second and smiled at the Doctor and gave a thumbs up to him.

"Cheers, Sweetie." She yelled back to him. They exited the meteor track and last on the course were a large Supernova Cycle followed by another Quantum Time Rift to allow a final burst of speed to the finish line. The Doctor and River were far in front of the rest and they entered the Plutonious Supernova and were spiralling in opposite directions on the barrel, like two surfers in the sea riding to impress. As they reached the Quantum Time Rift, they were side- by- side.

"This looks extremely close as racers eight and nine near the finish line. Is it River going to take the title once again, or the new- comer the Doctor? Just one obstacle left and either of them could take it, it's insanely close..." the announcer stated and a camera followed River and the Doctor across the Quantum Time Rift. They looked at each other, still side- by- side. The Doctor smiled and winked at River. She smiled back and extended her right hand and moved closer to the Doctor, he took hold of her soft hand and gripped tightly. "What's this then? We have a pair of winners, a couple maybe a partnership? Now that's what I call loyalty." The announcer said observing River and the Doctor, noticing a spark between them. They crossed the finish line together; still smiling at each other and the audience went wild and were cheering like mad. They rode the boards to the podium and bowed to the audience.

The Doctor jumped off the board and lifted River off of hers by her thin waist. She placed her arms around the Doctor's neck to give the tall man a hug and he moved one of his arms further up River's back and leaned in close to her until he could feel her heart beating. They never wanted to part from each other's hold; it was so intense and spectacular that neither of them were ever going to forget this moment. "That was amazing." The Doctor whispered. He has only known River a little while but, he has already developed feelings for her.

"Knew I'd... we'd win." River laughed. She was unaware of the Doctor's feelings for her.

"And now, we would like to hear some words from our champion, River Song." The announcer requested. River cleared her throat and implied to the Doctor that the hug was long enough. Reluctantly, The Doctor let go of River so she could speak. He walked over to a tent to see if the TARDIS had been teleported over from Tropicalipzone yet. Just then, he bumped into someone without realising they were there. "Oh, sorry about that." He said, and noticed a cloaked figure holding some items that he and River left in a tent back at the start. "Ah, that's ours. Thank you for finding it." He added looking at the pile of items the figure was carrying. The figure passed them over to the Doctor and removed the cloth from the top as it wasn't the Doctor's or River's.

"Today's race was just amazing, I really enjoyed it and coming out on top again was just a bonus." River smiled. "With my best friend experiencing Starsurfing for the first time." She continued looking around the audience and at the camera. She spotted the Doctor holding their items so she assumed the TARDIS was there too and they were leaving soon. Meanwhile, the Doctor looked down at the pile and noticed that a book was on the top so he began skim- reading it to see what it was. "Oh no." He murmured. It was River's blue diary that contained spoilers of his adventures with her and their relationship together.

Suddenly, a flash of orange light surrounded River and the Doctor. Everything around them froze and tiny time particles were floating around briskly moving from one place to another. River looked around, confused. "Doctor! What's happening?" she called out from the podium. All she could see was the Doctor standing still with a pile of various items in his arms and no sign of anyone else, the cloaked figure had disappeared.

The Doctor turned and faced River; he dropped everything but the blue book and it was still open. She knew straight away that he must've accidently looked inside it. She gasped and placed one hand on her cheek, shocked. She didn't know what was going to happen in their future together. "Time is being re-written, I don't know what changes there will be, what will never happen, what will now happen." He replied.

He ran over to River, he could sense that she was scared but trying to block it out. She looked into his eyes as he approached. He placed his hands on her soft, smooth face and whispered "It'll be okay, don't worry." And he wiped away a tear that streamed down her face with his thumb. She placed her hands on his chest and slowly closed her twinkling eyes. They leaned into each other until their lips met in an entanglement of orange time particles. The Doctor loved the feel of River's tender lips on his. This kiss felt like it will last all eternity but, everything must end eventually. He repositioned his arms so that one was on River's lower back and the other mid way up. The feel of River's company was the best feeling the Doctor had ever experienced. Moments later, the time particles faded and time had been re-written. They were no longer passionately kissing, just holding each other. A confused look riddled both of their faces; they had forgotten the past few moments.

The Doctor awkwardly cleared his throat and moved his hands away and placed them by his sides. "So, shall we stay for the ceremony?" he asked looking at River who was still confused by what happened.

She looked at him and smiled "Why not, after all it was our victory." She was still wondering why the Doctor was holding her a few moments ago, what happened? They walked over to the rest of the racers and had a drink to celebrate.

"Well, there you have it folks..." The announcer began as a camera zoomed across the partying racers. "...Another fantastic Starsurfing contest, with a duo of victors. The best of friends, partners in time..."

The Doctor and River were talking about the race and the passion at the podium when they heard the announcer commentating. "I like that..." River said.

"What?" The Doctor looked at her and took a sip of his drink.

"Partners in Time..." She replied with a smile and looked into his brown eyes.

"... Partners in Time we are." He smiled and extended his hand. She took it and smiled. The Doctor and River's relationship is only just blossoming and little did they know about it. One thing that will never change: they are Partners in Time.

_Their first kiss that they remember was in my story 'Our Song has only just begun' but, it was actually in this story and the events of 'Our Song...' are to happen in the near future. Hope this is all making sense to you and hope you enjoyed it..._


End file.
